Takaki Chapter 3

After reading Takaki Chapter 3 I was troubled by the way he went in depth with the difference between black slaves and white servants. I never knew that white servants and black slaves were treated so differently. Takaki also discussed the different ethnic class in the early years of the United States of America. I never believed that one of our presidents was a slave owner himself in Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was also talked about as a founding father who would never believe blacks and whites could co-exist.
With the help of a Shakespeare play, “The Tempest”, Takaki informs us of how in that time slaves were looked down upon in both the way they looked and the way they acted. Takaki gives us instances of when a black and white had relations and were punished because it was a forbidden encounter. Takaki then goes into detail on the difference between white servants and black slaves. Slaves were seen as objects rather than humans. They were valuable to the white slave owner and to his profit. Whereas white servants were forced to work for a short number of time. Takaki gives an example of a man who believed the same thing about whites and blacks, Thomas Jefferson. He believed whites and blacks could never get along although he argued against the use of slavery and wanted to abolish it all together in the United States. Takaki then goes into detail on the different types of white classes in the early years of America. There were so many white people but little actually owned land, which caused friction through out the classes. For instance, in the north east several militias were set up to protect the property from new travelers overseas. Another example is how some classes feared that the lesser well off classes would take sides with the enemy in spite of their riches.
How is it fair that white servants were treated differently than black slaves? It is not fair at all. Both are forms of slavery and it ridiculous that race is an excuse for the way the servants and slaves are treated differently. Takaki described in Chapter 3 that because of the fact that the black slaves were uncivilized and non Christian they were not seen as high up as white servants. The African Americans were not seen as human but only an object were the white servants were still treated with respect.
I learned a lot about reading Takaki Chapter 3. I was interesting to me to read about the difference between black slaves and white servants. I just don’t understand how people can be so ignorant and selfish to treat someone the way they were treated. It is very troubling to go on with these readings because of that. Yet, this was probably the reading I enjoyed the most because the information was new to me and interesting.